Review: Padron 50th Anniversary LE “The Hammer” Maduro

Although it was announced at the IPCPR 2014, the Padron 50th Anniversary Limited Edition “The Hammer” Maduro didn’t start shipping until the end of 2014. Presented in a stunning humidor with 50 cigars each, the cigar and presentation was the talk of the 2014 IPCPR.

The 50th Anniversary release was made available in both a Maduro and Natural as a single box pressed Toro (6x52) vitola. The $106 MSRP and corresponding humidor price tag put this well out of the reach of your average cigar aficionado.

I was fortunate enough to have this sample sent to me by my very good friends Tim and Mike with Havana Controls.

Vitola: Toro

Size: 6-1/2” x 52 Ring Gauge

Wrapper: Nicaragua

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Cigars Smoked for this Review: One each

Price Point: $106 MSRP

Quick Note: For this review we used Logan’s rating system. You can view it in detailhere.

“There’s no question that this Padron 50th Anniversary is an outstanding cigar and something that should be on every cigar smokers bucket list.”

Check out my video review here:

Surgeon’s Rating: 95 AKA “Box Purchase”

The nose on the Padron 50th Anniversary LE “The Hammer” Maduro is a medium to medium plus leather and light spices with medium cedar on the wrapper. In the foot I’m picking up spices and hay. I found the draw to be towards open.

My first few draws produce slight sweetness, mild spices and hay. On the retrohale the spices are between a light plus to medium minus with a pepper chaser at a light plus to medium minus on the post draw. A very elegant start. Some creaminess begins to build as the first third settles in. The pepper has a nice lingering quality to it on the post draw without running over other flavors. At the 10 minute mark light plus cedar comes into the mix and starts to occasionally dominate the post draw pepper. At the 20 minute mark there’s a great cocoa chocolate that adds to the complexity. The spices and pepper on the retrohale both pick up to be firmly at a medium minus and lingers significantly post draw, eventually getting up to medium plus.

Some intense nougat sweetness at a medium minus to medium starts to hit the palate as the Padron 50th moves towards the middle third. A creamy nougat sweetness is the dominant flavor profile in the middle third. There isn’t much of a change to the flavors in the middle third, it just settles in beautifully.

As the middle third winds down the spices come back on the retrohale to a light plus balancing out that intense nougat.

In the last third the profile is still creamy with spices on the retrohale. The cedar comes back in the last third at the same light strength to round it out. At the 2 hour and 40 minute mark some light plus leather and earth breaks in.

Total smoking time 3 hours.

Is the Padron 50th Anniversary Limited Edition “The Hammer” Maduro worth a $106 MSRP? I’m sure that’s the question everyone is asking themselves while reading this review. The price has come down significantly with various retailers selling the humidor on its own and bringing the individual cigar pricing down to half of MSRP.

There’s no question that this Padron 50th Anniversary is an outstanding cigar and something that should be on every cigar smokers bucket list. With that said there’s no question in my mind without the gracious gift from a friend I’m not sure I would have ever had an opportunity to try this cigar.

Surgeon’s Pairing Recommendation:

With a cigar this limited, this might be one of the times where you would avoid pairing to focus entirely on the cigar. With that said, this would be the time to crack out those bottles of 20 or 23 year Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, or a very old scotch whisky.

The refill cigars (identical to these just black serial #s) are $40-50 per single, if you paid $106 you were pitching in on the humidor. I bought 2 two packs (one natural and one maduro) for $80 each. One of my all time favorite cigars, the only reason this was my #2 COTY is because of the price/availability. I found these a notch above the 1926...totally agree with your 95!

The fact I was able to get these in the $40 dollar range made it possible to make this cigar of the year. The first one I smoked, I paid the $106.00. It wouldn't have been possible to buy more to make it eligible. The Natural is very good too - worth trying for sure, but not the Maduro.